Non-cancer Effects of Exposure to A-bomb Radiation

A slight rearrangement of the data included in a recent report from the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) has shown differences between cardiovascular and other non-malignant diseases of A-bomb survivors which probably result from two factors: selection effects of early infection deaths and residual effects of marrow damage. Both effects were dose related but neither was obvious becasue one reduced the risk of later infection deaths and the other increased the risk. Allowance for these factors is bound to alter present RERF estimates for cancer effects of radiation and the change will probably be in an upward direction, thus bringing these estimates closer to ones based on radiation workers.